Intervaginal tampons are in common use by women for the retention of fluid or menses discharged along the walls of the vagina during the mestrual cycle. Such tampons are usually formed of absorbent material such as cotton, rayon, cellulose wadding, synthetic sponge, cellulose fluff, synthetic fibers or combinations of these materials compressed or molded usually to a generally cylindrical configuration of a size to fit within the vaginal tract.
Intervaginal tampons may be inserted by use of applicators which eject the tampons within the vagina, by stick insertion or by digital insertion. Tampons are generally provided with a withdrawal cord or string that is utilized to withdraw the tampon from the vagina. The attachment of the string to the tampon is critical in that it is necessary that the string be attached in such a manner that the tampon is withdrawn from the vagina in one piece. Further, the string or withdrawal cord must be attached in such a manner that it is not susceptible to becoming unattached from the tampon such that the tampon may be easily removed from the vagina.
Methods of attachment of the withdrawal cord to tampon shave included passing a string through the tampon and knotting the string after it has passed through the tampon. However, this system is subject to failure if the knot is not perfectly formed or becomes untied. It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,731, 665 --Huebsch and U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,007 --Greiner et al. that the gauze overwrapping of a tampon be extended and utilized as a withdrawal cord. A disadvantage of this system is that the gauze overwrapping material is more expensive than a cord and further, forms a larger withdrawal device that is not preferred by women. Further, the gauze covering, in addition to being thicker, has more of a tendency to wick fluid, which is undesirable in a tampon withdrawal cord.
Therefore, there remains a need for a method of quickly attaching a withdrawal cord to a tampon in such a manner that it will not come loose under any conditions.